Bare necessity

I've never been one to adhere to conventions. I'm open minded about most things and will usually be willing to give something a chance, however strange and unintuitive it seems. So when I suggested barefoot running as an alternative a while back, it was not just hypothetical. As my training steps up, it seems apparent that niggling injuries will persist. They come in different flavours and currently it's my left foot that is causing problems. It is mild enough for now and certainly not severe enough to have to consult my physio, but the usual remedies are proving ineffective. I'll not be deterred from a full training regime just yet and will monitor the situation, taking a step back if necessary.

These doubts suggested I ought to consider the Vibrams seriously. They seem to be growing in popularity and I've heard from many sources that they reduce the risk and severity of injury massively. With an influx of Eid money, I had the financial means and without hesitation ordered a pair online. Within days, the moment arrived when I finally got to hold my new babies; except, they weren't quite what I imagined. No picture can fully prepare you for the Vibram FiveFingers. Put simply, they look ridiculous and it's hard to see how their £75 price tag is justified. Still, it's what's on the inside that counts (so I'm told), except there wasn't much going on there either. It certainly took long enough to even get my toes in their individual slots (not as easy as it seems but I may just have nailed it by now). Once on, I barely felt a thing. That's the point of course; these glove-like shoes are designed to simulate the barefoot experience.

Since any transition to barefoot running will take time, I've decided to limit them to one run per week and only on grass for now. Today was the day to really put them to the test; a casual 40 minute run in the local park. Within moments, my feet and the shoes were soaked with all kinds of crap as I paced up the boggy hill (no socks, of course). It was tempting to just go home at this point but I embraced the thought of being so far out of my comfort zone and continued, despite the wet and slippy conditions. I was soon lost in the wonderful world of isolated, barefoot-like running. By the end, the shoes seemed to have aged a decade and headed straight for the washing machine. On a positive note, the promised joy of wearing these seemed to be delivered in parts, at least. There were moments, and they were only moments, where I could literally believe that I was actually barefoot. At times I was sprinting with ease and having full use of every bone and muscle in the foot was liberating. Maybe it's an exaggeration, but my hope is that before long I'll be so used to them that these moments will very much become the norm. At that point, I'll step it up to the running track and then ultimately to asphalt.

My left foot felt fine throughout as did the rest of my lower body. This may be more down to the fact that it was a relatively short run but the initial impressions are good. Runner 'Been may just become Barefoot 'Been.